Auto Pacific: Affluent Buyers Account for 21% of Vehicle Purchases
19 November 1997
Auto Pacific Reports: Affluent Buyers Account for 21% of Vehicle Purchases
Jaguar Has Highest Percentage of Affluent Buyers:
Ford Division Sells to Most Affluent Buyers
SANTA ANA, Calif., Nov. 19 -- AutoPacific today released the
results of its 1997 Automotive Affluent America Consultancy(SM) which
comprehensively describes the affluent car buyer and buyers of higher priced
cars and light trucks. Based on a survey of 32,778 new, leased, and recent
model used vehicle buyers, about 21% of vehicle buyers earn $100,000 per year
or more. This is dramatically higher than the median household income of
vehicle buyers overall which is $60,430. Compared with 1996 income data from
the Department of Census, the vehicle buyer has a household income almost 60%
higher than the median income ($38,600) of a family in the United States.
AutoPacific's research identifies those brands which have the highest
percentage of affluent buyers. The makes with the highest percentages of
affluent buyers are European luxury brands: Jaguar (90%), Porsche (87%),
Mercedes (80%), Land Rover (76%), BMW (69%), Audi (67%). Japanese Luxury
brands Lexus (67%) and Infiniti (64%) also have over 60% affluent buyers.
High volume American brands, however, have the highest absolute number of
affluent individuals acquiring their products. AutoPacific's calculations
using 1996 calendar year sales indicate that Ford Division of Ford Motor
Company sold to over 540,000 affluent buyers. This is over twice the
penetration of Chevrolet Motor Division (over 240,000 affluent buyers) of
General Motors Corporation. Much of the affluent activity with these brands
surrounded the popular and more expensive sport utility vehicle lines such as
the Ford Expedition, Ford Explorer, Chevrolet Suburban and Chevrolet Tahoe.
Both GM's Chevrolet and GMC Truck brands have more affluent buyers than GM's
luxury car division, Cadillac.
Toyota had the highest number of affluent sales among the Japanese makes
with 210,000 buyers.
George Peterson, President of AutoPacific, Inc. says, "Affluent buyers
represent a substantial and important portion of the market. Makers can
attract and keep these influential buyers by introducing exciting new products
and sales processes designed to meet their unique needs."
The top fifteen brands by percentage and number of affluent buyers are
shown in the chart below:
Brand Percentage of Affluent ($100,000+) Buyers
1. Jaguar 90%
2. Porsche 87%
3. Mercedes-Benz 80%
4. Land Rover 76%
5. BMW 69%
6. Audi 67%
7. Lexus 67%
8. Infiniti 64%
9. Volvo 60%
10. Saab 55%
11. Cadillac 53%
12. Lincoln 43%
13. Acura 41%
14. Chrysler 33%
15. Jeep 28%
Brand Sales to Affluent ($100,000+) Buyers
1. Ford 543,000 units
2. Chevrolet 242,000
3. Toyota 210,000
4. Dodge 163,000
5. Jeep 144,000
6. Honda 135,000
7. Nissan 124,000
8. Chrysler 114,270
9. GMC Truck 107,000
10. Cadillac 90,000
11. Pontiac 84,000
12. Buick 74,000
13. Mercedes-Benz 73,000
14. Oldsmobile 72,000
15. BMW 72,000
AutoPacific is an automotive marketing research and product consulting
firm headquartered in Santa Ana, CA. "The Automotive Affluent America
Consultancy"(SM) is part of AutoPacific's annual "Research Suite(SM)" of
syndicated automotive research projects. For more information contact George
Peterson, President, Eric Noble, Marketing Executive, or Mary Beth Martin,
Project Manager at (714) 838-4234.
SOURCE AutoPacific, Inc.
